Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
The ladies are back! As usual, I have to begin with the disclaimer that I adore the series and the humour, and the audio narration brightens up my day. I went in with the hope that it would be entertaining to revisit the dashing dup with the witty verbal banter, and I got just what I expected.
The tone of this book takes gossip up a notch. The two women (do not start the series at this point because there is no fun without being on the inside of the in-jokes) take a stroll into their local when they find that the inside of the place has been emptied for a top-secret meeting. The members of the group are supposed to be a secret, but they meet in a public place with unwritten laws that everyone should look away and not pay them any heed. Obviously, Lady Hardcastle does not comply that easily while finding it hilarious.
Flo is more invested in local affairs than she would have preferred to. Her standing as a partner and colleague of Lady Hardcastle has pushed her into strange territory of being neither in the servant’s class nor the fancy people’s. She might be finally settling into a comfortable position here.
The plot of the mystery here is quite heavy. A person of the secret society is found dead in an apparently ritualistic manner. The way the clues add up and the type of mystery it was felt a little different from the cases they have handled in town before. As I mentioned earlier, local gossip is at the forefront, with adultery being a running theme. Given that point, the ending was quite a surprise.
I would listen to this book all over again for the tone and narrative voice (of both the author and the narrator of the audiobook). I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes drier humour with intriguing women at the helm.
Superfluous Reading 